Wizards of Waverly Place: The Backstory
by Hastur
Summary: Ever wondered how the Wizards of Waverly Place universe works? Or another related show's? This story explains likely reasons to connect certain apparent contradictions and discontinuities! Now with more Jalex!
1. Chapter 1

The Disney Channel Universe is a confusing place. There are pop stars with the Clark Kent secret identity power, psychics, presidents who get into crazy slapstick moments, aliens, vampires, zombies, werewolves and wizards. A lot of the information seems contradictory, and the rest of it simply doesn't make sense. This story provides a backstory on the likely cosmology and inner workings of the universe, particularly in regards to the show Wizards of Waverly Place.

First, we must make a list of shows considered canon to what I call the "Disney Channel Universe". The shows that are definitely in canon are: **That's So Raven, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Hannah Montana, Cory in the House, Wizards of Waverly Place** and **The Suite Life on Deck**. **That's So Raven**, **The Suite Life of Zack and Cody **and **Hannah Montana **had a crossover in the "That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana" special event. **Cory in the House**, being a direct spin-off of **That's So Raven **didn't need to have a cross-over to fit it into the universe, but it had one in **Hannah Montana** anyway, when the President of the United States and his daughter Sophie met Hannah. **The Suite Life on Deck**, also being a spin-off, nevertheless also crossed over with **Hannah Montana**, thus cementing it in the universe. Included in this cross-over, during the "Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana" event, was **Wizards of Waverly Place**. Thus I consider all these shows "DCU Canon."

A few shows may be canon, but we will never know. Those are **Phil of the Future**, **Even Stevens, and Lizzie McGuire. **These shows have since ended their runs, so there is little chance of any cross-overs. (Needless to say, the actors have largely moved on to other projects – not to mention they're older now.) One show may be canon and could have a cross-over. That would be **Sonny With a Chance**. However, Selena Gomez guest starring in Sonny as herself lessens the possibility of a cross-over since it would confuse the issue, _and_ Disney has already done the "actress referring to herself" joke in a Suite Life episode where Maddie claims she looks like Ashley Tisdale. On the other hand, Selena Gomez also guest starred as Mikayla on **Hannah Montana **in two episodes, and it was still crossed over with Wizards.

Anyway, due to the similar time frames of **Phil of the Future** and **Sonny With a Chance**, and to a lesser extent **Even Stevens** and **Lizzie McGuire**, as well as similar style and plotlines to them, I consider these four shows to be "almost canon", especially **Phil of the Future** and **Sonny With a Chance**. Of course, of these four shows, Phil is the only one that may need a lot of explaining, especially if we take it alongside **Wizards of Waverly Place, **which provides even more contradictions. Since Phil is only "almost canon" I will save such explanations for last – they will also probably be the most stretched.

Naturally, anything superscience or paranormal needs to be explained foremost, so that means most of my time will be spent discussing **Wizards of Waverly Place**, and to a lesser extent **That's So Raven**. A few _minor_ elements need to be explained in the Suite Life series, but I'll come to these.

So, onto the first question, one that is probably burning in your mind and has been since the first day of Wizards:

**What's up with the competition?**

Likely, wizards are only allowed to have one wizard per family. Why this is could be due to a variety of reasons, such as simple tradition. Much like how only one person could be heir to a throne, only one person can be heir to magic powers. Possibly, this is a rule ingrained into the essence of magic itself, perhaps because magic simply works that way. I find this unlikely, though. I imagine it's mostly a rule made up by the Wizards' Council, but it's an ancient rule. Perhaps there's not enough magic to go around (see later questions on an explanation of this) or perhaps they're just trying to limit the number of wizards to keep it secret. If it is this latter reason, then it's possible that the rule will be revised when people find out about wizards and are OK with them, as future Harper tells us. However, since children of former wizards inherit wizard powers, this wouldn't do all that much to limit the number of wizards in the long run. It is possible that the Russo children are an anomaly, possibly because Jerry actually won his competition but forfeited his powers to be with Theresa.

**Why can't Wizards marry non-wizards?**

Possibly to keep down the number of wizards, again. If they could marry non-wizards and keep their powers, and one of their children became wizards, that means that two wizards who could have married one another and only produced one wizard could each marry a non-wizard and produce two. However, this only makes sense if the Russo children are indeed an exception to the rule. Most likely, the rule about wizards not being allowed to marry non-wizards is simply an ancient tradition of bigotry, and letting them forfeit their powers to do so may even be a radically liberal and new idea (perhaps formerly, they'd have been beheaded.)

**So what's this competition like, anyway?**

As yet unknown, but apparently an episode is coming up where Jerry and his siblings redo the competition so we'll be able to see. It's unlikely to be a duel to the death, although it's possible that this used to be the case in the ancient days of yore, and it has since been made much safer. It's also unlikely that Jerry will get his powers back even if he does win the competition again, because the rule about wizard marriages will probably still be in place, but it's possible that he will be granted powers temporarily.

**How does one "pay" for magical powers? I thought wizards were just born with it.**

This came up in the episode "Fashion Week", where there is a failure at the "magical power plant", so Alex can't use powers for a large part of the episode. This is entirely a plot device, and I would have used a different one, had I been the writers, because it would be more consistent. Nevertheless, I do have an explanation at hand.

Mana is sort of like a fuel for magic. Some might say that you shape spells out of it, but I don't quite know how the cosmology of **Wizards of Waverly Place** works. In any event, mana is required to perform magic. My theory is this, back in the good old days, there used to be mana all around and wizards could just use it willy nilly. But then one day, some jerk decided to build himself a castle that floats in the sky and it took so much mana that he used it all up. The theory extends to say that eventually, wizards (who may have been former wizards at this point) figured out how to artificially generate mana from magical sources, such as dragons. They then magically conduct this mana to wizards.

**So why can't anyone use magic? And how can you take away a wizard's power?**

Only wizards are born with the capability to harness and shape mana. (At least immense amounts of it.) You can then take away this ability. Think of it like a big internal capacitor, except that it stores and discharges mana. Roughly.

**So why could Evilini get more powerful by stealing Justin's powers?**

By adding them to her own, she could harness _more_ mana. There may also be a certain amount of finesse involved too, but likely this is related to your own concentration, not your raw power.

**Wait, how could Professor Crumbs take away Alex's powers?**

Since she is a student wizard and he is a teacher, he has magical authority over her. Possibly it just requires you be very powerful to do so, but more likely there's an enchantment on every student wizard – kind of a failsafe.

**Then why would Evilini have to take Justin to Volcano Island to steal his powers? **

Despite being a teacher, it's possible she isn't in Professor Crumbs' position of authority. Alternatively, going to Volcano Island might be required to add his powers to her own – after all, that process would take an immense amount of energy. Additionally, harnessing the power of Volcano Island would probably allow a wizard to steal _anyone's_ power, not just a teacher taking away powers from a student.

**How does a spell work?**

By saying the words and conditioning your mind to the proper mindset, you can shape the mana to perform what you want it to do. You have to be thinking about what you want it to do, and visualizing it pretty well, or else it might not go quite the way you wanted it to.

**So how does one accidentally cast a spell, like in the Wizards movie?**

In that case, Alex _really_ wanted what she was saying. She said it in such a heat of passion that what she said just became true. As for the case where she accidentally animated Justin's zit, she probably had that spell on her mind subconsciously, and since she was once again in a fit of passion, she accidentally cast it.

**What are the words for, then?**

Most likely, the words merely help you get into the right mindset. Consider TJ Taylor. He said "Spells are like training wheels" when Justin said he didn't use a spell to clear his parents' schedule. TJ Taylor is a scarily "powerful" wizard. However, he is not necessarily powerful in the amount of mana he can utilize, but he's very good at getting his mind into the right condition.

**How can you make up and patent a spell, then?**

A patented spell, credited to you, is a forumlaic shaping of mana. By doing research into how one shapes a spell, you can ensure that if you get into _this_ mindset, the spell will always turn out like _this. _"Patterning" a spell is how you "shape" the mana, and it can be looked at like a metaphysical textile. I can't go into any more detail without diving into real-life occult theory, however – and even that, especially that, has a lot of contradictory beliefs.

**Then how is a spell recalled?**

Presumably, the pattern is so complex that glitches in it aren't found very readily.

**What about improvisational spells?**

Improvisational spells are inherently less powerful than a researched spell unless you're a very good wizard (at getting your mind into the right set) and/or very powerful (can harness a lot of mana at once.) They only have to rhyme because that _really_ helps your mindset – likely the only reason Justin couldn't cast a spell rhyming "movie" with itself was because, as he said "it didn't even sound like a spell." If he didn't believe it, his mind wouldn't be in the right condition for casting it.

At the moment, I can't think of anything else to answer. If you have another question you'd like me to address, please leave it in a review.


	2. Chapter 2

This chapter goes on to discuss the connections between **That's So Raven** and **Wizards of Waverly Place**. As was already shown, they take place in the same universe, which might seem to be a contradiction, but on the other hand, many different types of magic can exist in the same setting. (Just look at White Wolf!) So, without further ado.

**What are psychics, then?**

Psychics are people born with inherent powers, kind of like wizards, except while it shows a certain genetic trend (Raven's grandmother being psychic), it is not passed the way wizardry is. Furthermore, since Max asks if they're going to meet a psychic in "Make it Happen (Plan B)", we can assume that either wizards or non-wizards can be born psychic.

**Psychic powers are magical?**

There can't be said to be any non-trivial distinction between them, yes.

**Can non-wizards use magic?**

Yes. As shown in "Don't Have a Cow", Raven and Chelsea are going through Grandma Viv's old occultist trunk. They find, among other things, tarot cards and a spell book. This seems to imply that non-wizard magic is mostly divination, but when they cast a spell to make a wish come true, it accidentally turns them into cows. The spell they cast requires brewing of a potion, so it's possibly more like alchemy than a spell one "casts", though again the functional difference is a matter of semantics, as it's still magic. This seems to imply that they can use magic, but it's less versatile. The caveat is that this entire episode turned out to be a drawn out vision, but that implies that it would have worked. Also note that in **The Suite Life of Zack and Cody**, the episode "The Suite Smell of Excess" **, ** where they most likely have a shared dream, could be an instance of telepathy among otherwise normals, and this would not be far-fetched in this universe at all. (For that matter, neither would the idea that they _actually_ traveled to another universe, although that falls in the realm of superscience.)

**Can people learn psychic powers? Or magic, for that matter?**

So far, we haven't seen people practicing psychic powers, but we have seen people gain powers ("He's Got the Power") through certain celestial events. Given that there was a working spellbook, this implies that one could learn magic through that, too, although again there is probably a distinction between wizard magic and non-wizard magic in the sense that the latter is more constrained and difficult. We have seen student wizards practice magic a lot, though. This shows that while it's more powerful, it also takes a lot of practice and learning, which makes it rather unlike the psychic powers shown in the show, since those are inherent and, in the case of Raven, passive. Other psychics with more active powers are shown in "Saving Psychic Raven", though they do seem to be practicing with their powers, it could be more akin to testing them. Either way, they are limited to what they could do with what they were born with. On the other hand, since in "Leave It to Diva", Raven develops telepathy due to a cold, it implies that a psychic is born with more potential than is immediately obvious, but conditions need to bring it out. If of course, this is the case, it could also be true that everyone has the potential, given the events of "He's Got the Power". And since Grandma Viv did have a spellbook, it's likely she was trying to maximize her potential – and when we do see her, she is way more powerful than Raven, so perhaps it worked. For a short answer to this, I'm going to say "Yes, but we don't know how"

**Who in their right minds would let teens on a cruise without the parents to supervise?**

No clue. On the other hand, Mr. Moseby is possibly the single most responsible adult in the entire universe, though the parents wouldn't have known that going into it. Chalk this one up to the power of plot.

**What happened to Dragon, the Russo's dog/dragon?**

Honestly speaking, the writers didn't care enough about it. That episode was during the early days when they were testing the waters, and didn't care much about continuity.

**For that matter, since when do they have a cat?**

True, in the Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana event, Justin did mention that the cat wouldn't lick Max, which is the first mention of any cat of the Russos'. However, it's not as much of a stretch to think that they have a cat we never see, after all, cats are extremely independent and known to be elusive at times. Here's a theory – they turned dragon into a cat.

**How can the Leprechaun Grill justify putting a Leprechaun in a box?**

Leprechauns are second-class citizens, at best. The Wizard world is notably bigoted and racist. One of Jerry's own ancestors (grandfather or great-grandfather) wrote an entire book on racist giant jokes. The fact that Alex is willing to poke a leprechaun so readily might imply that she too, is racist. On the other hand, she probably would have poked anyone had they been in the box, so it merely shows she's sadistic, which we already knew.

**What's the relationship between pocket elves and elves like Tutor?**

Very little. Tutor is derived more from Tolkein-esque elves, while pocket elves are closer to faeries. The faeries shown, though, are very fae-like. Flutter, when she got into a mood, only wanted to mess stuff up.

**If a half-elf like Tutor and human had a kid, would it be a quarter-elf?**

Kind of. Most likely they'd just say they were "part elf", the way Tutor does.

**Is Alex secretly an anarchist? **

I don't think it's very secret. Seriously speaking, though, the anarchy symbols in "Paint By Committee", explained as "her initial in a circle" are likely a bit of a joke on the part of the writers/producers, rather than any hint as to her political alignment. The peace signs hidden on Alex throughout season 2 are more likely in line with her political beliefs. (Which are probably libertarian.)

**Speaking of politics, how did Richard Martinez get elected, and what's his party?**

Presumably, after the election of an African-American, it wasn't so strange to think that a Hispanic could be elected. (Although the show started before our current president was elected, it was a clear possibility – writers do research, after all!) Demographically speaking, he's probably a Democrat.

**Why aren't the Russos Catholic?**

Being half Italian and half Mexican, demographically we might expect them to be. Well they might be, although we never see them go to Mass. More particularly, it's likely that being a wizard didn't mesh well with Catholics, so Jerry's (Italian) side split with the church long ago. Theresa may have decided to lay low for marrying a wizard for a similar reason, although the Church is less likely to believe such a tale these days.

**In "Wizard for a Day" Alex kills a dragon in under 10 seconds. How?**

Given the size of the heart, it was probably very young.


	3. Chapter 3

In this chapter, I touch up on some things I forgot before, and then I go on to discuss a bit of the superscience that seems to be prevalent in some of the shows. Please do leave reviews if you have any questions you want me to answer! Reader feedback will be much appreciated.

**So, Dr. Sleevemore – born psychic or practiced?**

This is a good question, and the case of Dr. Sleevemore is one I hadn't considered before. I suspect he's a case of someone being born with potential, but learning how to unlock it. It would make sense that he would have some psychic powers as innate, explaining why he decided to research them in the first place. Then, in his research, he perhaps figured out how to utilize one's full potential – or at least part of it. I should note that wizards probably very seldom learn psychic powers unless they are born with it, due to their access to magic, which renders psychic powers redundant.

**If psychic powers are indistinguishable from magic, where does the mana come from?**

Also a good question. See, my belief that they are indistinguishable comes from the realization that no matter what your technobabble, psychic powers just don't make sense. I mean, you can talk about quantum entanglement or the whatnot, but given that we're dealing with a universe where we already know magic exists, Occam's Razor seems to apply. I would say that psychic powers just don't require much mana, so they're still able to utilize all that remains after the castle in the sky was built.

**So wouldn't psychic powers be a good backup in case a wizard's mana supply is cut off, or if their powers are taken away?**

Yes, but wizards are notoriously arrogant and don't believe that will happen.

**How different is the magic non-wizards can learn from the magic wizards use?**

Quite different. Non-wizard magic requires a lot of ritualism, while wizard magic is fast and versatile. It's kind of like the difference between invocation and evocation, though that's probably not a great analogy either.

**Where does the mana for non-wizard magic come from?**

Same place as psychic powers. Part of the ritual probably involves actually collecting enough mana to do something.

**Where does Dr. Sleevemore get his superscience equipment, and how does it work?**

He probably builds it himself. He is more or less a mad scientist. The "psychic measuring device" would easily work, though. Since doing magic (which psychic powers are a subset of) requires changing your mind frame, you can simply measure your brain waves. The machine that lets him see Raven's vision was an excuse for a clip show, but assuming one figures out how visual memories are encoded, you might be able to make a device that does that. On the other hand, it might be what we call a "psychotronic" device, that is, one which can utilize and emit psychic powers. (Some powerful magical artifacts can presumably already do this.) If that's so, it might _magically_ translate her thoughts.

**So is Arwin also a mad scientist?**

Given his robot (In "**Arwinstein**") and possibly his P.U. (if you don't believe it was a telepathic dream, in **"The Suite Smell of Excess"**), yes, I would say he is.

**How does the A.I. in Arwinstein work?**

Either it, too, is magic, it involves a very complex learning algorithm, or a working artificial neural network. Perhaps a bit of both.

**How about the P.U.**?

This would require a lot of energy of some sort, and it might be magical. On the other hand, it might have something to do with tearing holes in reality. No one really knows anything about physics, anyway, we just fake it. 

**Why is no one ever in any serious danger and everything so light unlike most stories involving magic? **

I don't know quite how broad you're saying "most" is, or how you define serious danger. This show is essentially like **Sabrina, the Teenage Witch**, **Bewitched **(Mr. Laritate is a reference to the boss in that show, Larry Tate!)**, **or **I Dream of Jeannie**. Or a number of other sitcoms involving magic as a plot device, where the mood was still light. Perhaps, though, it resembles a tale of heady enticement, showing the hedonism of unlimited power, and how it's not really all that it's cracked up to be. Sure, due to magic, they can get _out_ of any "serious" danger, but they _still_ have day to day problems – similar to the aforementioned shows!

**Why would the Disney producers put two people with such good chemistry (Selena Gomez and David Henrie) as siblings? **

In their defense, they probably didn't know quite how much chemistry they would have when they were chosen for the cast. Now this also seems to be the reason for the prevalence of "Jalex" shippers, but there might also be something there about the allure of extremely forbidden relationships. Even among wizards, sibling relationships are taboo. Also note that Max would have to get the powers by default if they did carry on a relationship, even if it weren't taboo, because unless former wizards count as wizards by wizard law, at least one of Alex and Justin won't have powers.


	4. Chapter 4

We start this edition of Wizards of Waverly Place: The Backstory off with something very very new to us – a question from the readers! I had frankly more or less given up with this project, since no one seemed to care.

**Why do the Russos have three children if Jerry is so worried about two of his kids becoming dependent on magic and then having to lose it? If it is rare that a wizard gives up his/her powers, then did he just not know that his kids would have magic? **

And this reader basically answers the question _in_ the question. That is exactly the explanation I have always believed. Jerry didn't know that his kids would inherit magic powers, because he believed that since he had given up his powers, his kids would be normal mortals, never knowing of the wizard world (he may have even asked Kelbo to not reveal his powers to the kids, in this case.) But alas, for good or ill, they have magic powers.

As an alternative reason they have three kids, Theresa is pretty hot.

**What do the magical fuses do?**

As revealed earlier, magic is generated like electricity in this universe. Because of this, these magical fuses conduct all the mana into the special magical reservoirs from which Justin, Alex, and Max can tap to use their magical energies. Presumably they can do this from any plane of existence, or at the very least anywhere on this plane.

**What was the technicality that caused Jerry, Kelbo and Megan to retake the test?**

We don't know, but probably it was proctored incorrectly.

**Couldn't the council have forced Megan to retake the test?**

Apparently not.

**Isn't Alex's solution somewhat temporary? Won't the council find out eventually?**

Nah. Likely they'd be just as moved by her speech, or they wouldn't really care so much by then. Eventually two of them will lose their powers anyway, unless of course Mr. McFly (I bet he's from the future) reports that he DID take away their powers, so then there is no reason to run the test. Eh, eh?

**Speaking of Time Travel – Future Harper says that she got help from a powerful wizard to time travel, yet Kelbo mentions it in "Alex in the Middle", and does it in "Retest". **

What'd you get on that deductive reasoning test? Solution – at the very least, Kelbo is a powerful wizard. At most, he is the powerful wizard who helped Harper. Alternatively, it's easier to time travel for brief periods, as in Braid. I mean, the episode "First Kiss."

**What exactly did Alex do that was so bad in "Retest?"**

Well, Justin believes that Megan might have retaken the test if Alex had approached her better. Personally I think that Alex's try did neither harm nor good, but it was a good plot point to bring out the juxtaposition between Megan and Alex. Also to make Alex hug Justin. That's always hot.

**In "Wizards vs. Vampires on Waverly Place" Alex says she did something that they don't want to hear about? What was it?**

I've thought about it a lot, and it was probably either trespassing or destruction of property. Alex isn't exactly evil after all... she just doesn't like rules.

**How can a wand help magical powers? And what's the difference with wand magic and hand magic, and why is wand magic more powerful?**

It increases the amount of mana you can deal with at once, probably. That's why it's more powerful. It probably provides less "resistance" but allows you to offload more magical "thermal energy". Something like that.

* * *

OK, for my next chapter, I'd like to address issues raised in **Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie**, but I don't know where to begin. Any questions?


	5. Chapter 5

In this chapter, I finally have some reader questions to answer! Most of them are about the movie, of course, because that's what I had asked for. I also have one question I meant to get to.

**How exactly WAS Alex able to make that wish that her parents never met? And even if she was really mad at her mom, why would she wish that her parents never met? It doesn't make sense why she would wish for that. If anything, she should've just wished her mom out of her life, or something like that. For the movie, Alex wished her parents never met. I mean, if she really did want to change this, couldn't she have asked Jerry for the wand and wished for the spell to have never happened instead of going to the Stone of Dreams?**

Well, as I have said before, doing magic is mostly a matter of getting your mind into the right condition. You have to really believe it will occur, and Alex, as angry as she was, was able to imagine fully her parents never having met. The reason she wished this, though I have never been a teenage girl, is because wishing you'd never been born (which wishing your parents had never met implies) is the harshest thing you can say to your parents, because it makes them feel as though they have failed at bringing a life into the world. It's just a very mean thing to say. That and Alex really means it – she would rather not have been born than put up with her mother, apparently. The reason she merely couldn't have unwished it is that she couldn't get her mind into the right condition. Or alternatively, you simply cannot undo something via that method.

**If their parents had never met, wouldn't they have met other people by then? Just saying...**

Jerry, as he was portrayed having never met Theresa, didn't seem like the kind of guy who would settle down with anyone, mortal or non. However I think that the reason is more complicated than that. As any physics student can tell you, the natural state of the universe is to be at the lowest possible energy level (such as for electrons in atoms.) Magic, then, would do as little work as possible to achieve the desired effects. Consider that neither of them would probably even be on vacation in the first place at this point in their lives if they'd never met, and almost certainly not at the same time. Magic just "overlooked" those small details and merely re-edited everyone's minds to include a past that led up to this outcome, and it seemed natural because, well, magic is like that.

**After the competition, did Justin disappear before Alex because he didn't have wizards powers? Is it because she became a full wizard?**

That's what I assumed. I mean the real reason is plot drama, but it's kind of believable it was because she was a full wizard, right?

**Why did Max start to forget stuff visibly, while it was less noticeable with Justin and Alex?**

Well it is Max we're talking about. We're lucky he remembers how to tie his shoes.

**Why would the Disney producers have Alex and Justin interact like that? I've never seen siblings act like that with each other before!**

The writers are dirty, dirty people. Well, that's my favorite pet theory anyway. The real reason may have to do with the natural chemistry between Selena Gomez and David Henrie, but even then, the writing itself seemed fairly geared toward displaying Alex and Justin's relationship. The writers and producers must know of the popularity of the Jalex fandom, because I think that at this point the evidence toward that is staggering.

However, I have to admit a bias. The only other couple I "ship" is Rypay.

**After Alex did the spell, if she didn't put the wand and spell book down, would the book and wand still go back to Jerry?**

Probably. Incidentally, moving the book to Jerry was probably less work than moving it back to his home, going along with the answer above. After all, why would he bring a book of forbidden spells on vacation otherwise?

**Why did their mom FINALLY remember Max after he had disappeared forever? Did Theresa really remember Max fully, or was it just a little portion of him?**

She indeed did not remember him completely. This much I glean from how she interacted with Archie and Gisele. She said that she wasn't part of their world and she didn't really understand what was going on, but she knew that she loved Max. (Family bonds transcending magic is actually a theme of not only the movie, but the whole series!)

**How, and I mean HOW, can Justin think magic is the only thing he's good at? That doesn't really make sense either.**

Because he's good at everything, so naturally he thinks he's not good at anything. Perfectionists are like that.

**Why, in the movie, could we see the kids using more hand magic, than in the TV show? Is it because they wanted more variety other than wand magic? **

Well, remember that they weren't supposed to bring their wands. Also, their hand magic had a lot more fun visual effects than they have time and budget to produce on the show.

**When riding a flying carpet, why do you need a life vest?**

They're probably enchanted to hover.

**If you DID fall, what good would a helmet do?**

Well, it's probably a magic helmet, too.


	6. Chapter 6

All right, I take a break from homework to bring you more reader questions and their answers!

**Are there 3 people running around in that universe looking like Selena Gomez? She plays Alex on Wizards, Mikayla on Hannah Montana, and she guess starred on one episode of Suite Life as a girl named Gwen, Cody's love interest.**

I assume so. Now a case could be made that to the people in the universe itself, they all look different. Remember that no one thought Maddie looked like Ashley Tisdale (although that was a joke), but more importantly, no one seems to have said "Say, Miley Stewart looks a lot like Hannah Montana." Denial is a wonderful thing, so they deny that they look alike, because that's impossible. Actually, the only story I have submitted is centered around Alex looking like Mikayla.

**Why do people on the SWAC universe know that Miley and Hannah are the same people (except for Chad Dylan Cooper)? Are they in the same mind set as us or did Miley/Hannah blow her secret there?**

I think Sonny takes place in what is essentially our universe – well, one that is a lot closer anyway. After all, Selena Gomez is an actress in the SWAC universe. So to them, Hannah Montana is just a TV show (and a media sensation, but not a secret).

**Does this mean that SWAC can NEVER have a cross-over with Wizards, Suite Life, or Hannah Montana?**

I find it unlikely, especially because Selena Gomez appeared there and because of the comment that Chad Dylan Cooper thought Hannah and Miley were two different people. Especially the latter, actually. If it had just been the Selena thing, which we could make a case for because Ashley Tisdale was actually referenced by Maddie, then I'd say there could be four people who look like Selena in that universe. Alas, the Miley/Hannah thing clinches it – it's in another universe.

**Why don't they ever mention Hannah Montana or Mikayla on Wizards? They mention Tears of Blood (TOB), some random MCR spoof band Justin likes, but not one of the most popular singers in that universe? I can sorta understand not mentioning Mikayla, but not Hannah Montana? She gets dozens of awards and is insanely popular in that universe, and not even mentioned in passing...Seems like a singer at least Harper would like.**

You want the real reason or the in-universe reason? The real reason is that mentioning them would distract from the plot. As writers, you should never put in anything that does that and, ideally, everything should further the plot. When writing comedy the rule relaxes to "Should further the plot or be funny." In-universe though, I'd say that Alex and Justin don't like Hannah, and Harper refrains from mentioning her out of politeness.

**In the episode "Saving Wiztech", Dean was put in a huge block of jello (or something like that), the gang went to Wiztech for AT LEAST a week, and then Dean was freed from the jello a day or 2 later. Wouldn't Dean, or someone who knows Dean, realize how long he's been gone? I mean really, someone's gotta notice his random disappearance!**

Dean is portrayed as the kind of kid who might disappear for a while anyway, so I imagine that no one really noticed. On the other hand, he would notice something. Fortunately there is a memory erasing spell, which can really act as a deus ex machina for a lot of things. Another possibility is denial, again. There is something magical that makes mortals not want to believe in magic, so they dismiss a lot of things as coincidence that we would find absurd. (In "Movies", there was the line about "How much did you get on that deductive reasoning test?" Even someone who got a 99 on that will deny magic as a possible cause of anything!)

**Not to mention, how do Justin, Alex, and Max all get excused to leave school and go to Wiztech in the first place? Because in this Wiztech episode they made it clear that this wasn't during the summer, unlike the first.**

Parental excuses can get you out of a lot.

**In the movie, why did Max and Justin remember what happened after Alex reversed the spell and not Jerry and Theresa?**

For that matter, why did Alex? She wished everything back the way it was, after all. Anyway, I assume it's for essentially the same reason they didn't disappear right away, either. Magic is lazy.

**Why is it that in the movie, Max appeared to be more grown up than in the TV series? He seems more serious and mature about magic and other things.**

He also seemed more capable. I guess he's just maturing, actually. We might see a more mature Max in season three, actually.

**We all now know that Dean moved away and that's why he wasn't on the show. Why didn't they mention it in earlier episodes then, instead of leaving us wondering where he went to all this time?**

This show has a few problems with continuity, it's true, but also, it must not have really come up before then. At least not until they needed a plot around it.

**In the show, several times, the Russos mention magic, or even use magic in a public area, for example, Alex talks about magic in the hallway with TJ in the episode Art Teacher. How can they not be exposed like that? Also, in the episode Art Teacher, Mr. Laritate comes out after Alex's conversation with TJ and says that he overheard what she said, but yet didn't reference anything to magic. How can that be?**

When they're in halls they are supposed to be whispering, but they don't really because of convenience to the audience. It's sort of like having an aside in a play. The thing with Mr. Laritate is odd, of course, but see, this also ties back to the whole idea that mortals deny magic as a possible cause. He's so conditioned against it that he either didn't hear it or didn't understand it, completely psychologically.

**In the episode, Tutor Tutor, Max gets a tutor for magic. But why doesn't Alex, since she clearly needs a tutor the most, as shown by the backfiring of her spells?**

Actually, her spells usually go pretty well, it's just that she doesn't always make the best choices with how to use spells. Max, on the other hand, seems to have trouble even casting spells.

**If you can travel trough time, even for a few hours why not write down the winning lottery numbers or something like that and return to your time to win it, you could even give it to a mortal friend so it would never be known. **

My theory is that traveling in time inherently alters the timeline, so that if you travel forward to get lottery numbers, you'll change what those numbers are. Then they won't do you any good, because they'll be different when they're selected "again", when you travel back in time. Of course, this opens up the "what about time travel paradox" can of worms, but I always liked to believe that those kind of ironed themselves out. Like, there's a way the universe is _supposed_ to be, so the space-time continuum constantly flexes back into that position.


	7. Chapter 7

I know you guys were used to my fast updates, but I hope this one wasn't too slow for you! I also hope that I don't miss any questions – if I do feel free to bug me via Private Message.

**If the spell McReary Time-reary rewinds time, but only wizards noticed the rewind, then why haven't we seen other little moments where the time has backed up? I'm sure they aren't the only ones who have dropped a crystal ball, or needed a quick redo.**

There are a few possible explanations. For one, it might be that it happens all the time but the show skips over it. However, the other possibility is that it only rewinds time in a local area. I don't know how far the movie theater is from the Sub Station, but it's possible that the spell only affects the area of a city block or so.

**  
And for that matter, why haven't they used it since? I understand the need for plot, but if Alex had just done that spell, wouldn't it have undone the spell she did to make her parents not meet? **

The spell that Alex cast, even by accident, was too powerful to undo simply by reversing time, because the spell itself already reached back far in time.

**Shouldn't Kelbo have the family wand, since he's the family wizard? **

Possibly, but Kelbo also adores his niece and nephews. He may have given up the family wand to them just out of uncleyness.

**We all know that Juliet and her family are vampires. But how come they can eat what other humans eat, like steaks and vegetables and stuff?**

Vampires are able to eat food other than human, but they really crave blood, and are even dependent on it, but that doesn't mean it's the only thing they can eat. Of course, in a lot of fiction they can be sustained on animal blood (Which is why Alucard likes rare steak, naturally), so we should assume that they eat a diet that happens to include blood, rather than being wholly subsistent on it.

**Also, can the Wizards-verse vampires come out at night, because the Van Heusons were supposed to go camping, which usually means you stay over, even in daylight.  
**

They probably can. I believe we have seen Juliet out in the day, when they went to tell Jerry and Theresa that they were in love. (Er, that Juliet and Justin were.... Jerry and Theresa already know they're in love with one another.)

**  
Does Juliet have some kind of power, because in the first part of the saga, she could make Justin fall asleep and wake up at will.**

Yes. Vampires have all kinds of weird and kooky powers. This was an example of a rather classic vampire power though, that of the ability to control people mentally.****

In the episode 'Graphic Novel' Gigi pretty much finds out that Alex is a wizard, but why doesn't she tell anybody, instead, choosing to tell everyone that Alex has a crush on Dean? 

She doesn't actually discover that Alex is a wizard. Remember that she claimed she was reading the book and it seemed really graphic. Once again this ties into the denial all mortals seem to carry with them about magic.

**Also, when Max trapped Gigi in the book, why didn't he and Justin think of just going in there and getting her out before she realized what was going on?  
**

They didn't know that she would think it was just a vivid journal, so they thought that she would immediately know something magical was up.

**  
Doesn't anyone realize the different characters that the actor, Amanda Tepe, plays? Wouldn't they see that they are the same person, or at least see how similar the character look?  
**

Much like the fact that there are three people that look like Selena Gomez in the universe, there are either a ton of people who look like Amanda Tepe, or she has some sort of secret plan going on. Either way, people don't think of it because they don't expect to run into the same person all over the place. Think of how many people you run into, but forget their face quickly afterwards. This, ramped up a bit because mortals are rather oblivious in the Wizards universe, is all part of her plan.

**  
Max reaches his full wizarding powers in the episode 'Potion Commotion', but why did it take him so long to get them? **

Well we don't know when Justin and Alex got their full powers – since he is the youngest it could have occurred at around the same time. I suspect it's a biological function (possibly linked to puberty), and everyone matures at a different rate, so why not?

**Also, why, in previous episodes, was he learning and practicing the same spells that Alex and Justin were? **

Largely I suspect that their father is teaching them the know-how, rather than having them practice how to cast spells. They need to know which spells to cast and when, as well as being able to cast them. Most of the lessons are "This is the spell, here's how you cast it", while the can levitating lesson was a "practice casting this spell" lesson. It's a fine, but important, distinction.


	8. Chapter 8

**In an episode of HM, they mention that Robby Ray is Hannah's dad, but then several other episodes everyone seems to know that Robby Ray is Miley's dad, so wouldn't somebody have put two and two together?**

The people who know that Robby Ray is Miley's dad, and the people who know that Robby Ray is Hannah's dad do not overlap much, and for the people who do, they haven't realized that they're the same Robby Ray. (Because of the same magical denial that is seen so often in the Wizards' part of this universe!)

**And for that matter, if I'm wrong, and no one's ever said that Hannah's manager is also her dad, I know that in Mr. Jonas, Mr. Jonas, and Mr. Jonas she calls him "Robby Ray," and Rico wanted him to sign the Robby Ray album when he was trying to impress that girl, so if kids at school went nuts and tried to befriend Miley just because she was dating Jake Ryan, wouldn't they try and befriend her because her dad is Hannah Montana's manager?**

Worse than that, actually. At least a few people do know that Hannah's manager is also her father, such as the photographer. The thing is that, obviously, the kids at school either don't know that Robby Ray is her father, or that Robby Ray is Hannah's Manager. They couldn't, or they would know Too Much. (Random Capitals are Cool, by the way.) Furthermore, Robby Ray is portrayed as more or less a one-hit wonder who is more or less all washed up now (gee, I wonder who that reminds us of :P). It's unlikely that any of the kids at school really know of him.

**And why wear the mustache if he's still "Robby Ray?"**

The mustache helps to throw people off and make them think that he's possibly not the _same_ Robby Ray. Alternatively, perhaps he was jealous that everyone else got a disguise.

**Does any of that even make sense?**

I think so, yes. Of course it's a bit of a stretch to remain in-universe – but I think the fact that we know for a fact magic exists in it helps alleviate that a little bit.


	9. Chapter 9

**Max is younger than Justin by about 3 years(In season three, Justin is a Senior and Max was once referred to as 14) so whenever it is time for the Wizard Competition, wouldn't he have a disadvantage since Justin would have had more time to learn magic than Max? Discounting the fact that Justin is the smartest and whatnot, I would say they might start training at around the same age, maybe at 6 or 7 or something. In total, Justin would have the most years to study for the competition, and the fact that he has been in one already gives him a even huger advantage over Max...Yea, makes sense?**

Yes, and this is an excellent question. Unfortunately, the only answer I can give is "The wizarding competition is inherently unfair." Think about this – if after the kids go through the competition, Theresa and Jerry have another kid, then presumably, they won't even have a chance at the powers. (Or maybe the council would allow for a retest, but even then, his siblings would have had much longer to train.) The council doesn't care – whatever their reasons for levying the competition are (likely to keep the number of wizards down), justice isn't one of them. Practicality is.

I, for one, assume the competition occurs when the eldest reaches the age of majority, which in the wizard world, could be anywhere from 18 to 21. Just a guess though.

**If Alex doesn't test well and is a year behind, and in the same grade as Harper, does that mean that Harper is a year younger than Alex? **

Possibly. On the other hand, it's possible Alex was a sophomore with Harper in season 1, but had to repeat the grade in season 2. So Harper would be a junior while Alex was a sophomore.

**When does the movie take place? In Justin's New Girlfriend, Alex's hair is short, but in the movie it's long again, but they make it seem like the movie takes place right after Retest. **

I believe it is supposed to take place after Retest, but it might not. It might take place right after the Vampire Saga. Since we don't know the exact amount of time elapsed, it's possible Alex's hair grew. (It's also possible she can use a spell to style it however she pleases at any given time, of course!)


	10. Chapter 10

**Will Kelbo have to give up his powers for Justin, Alex or Max? It looked like Jerry had to give up his in the movie.**

I don't believe so. I think the rule goes that there can be only one wizard per set of siblings. Jerry wasn't actually giving up his powers, he was merely producing powers – if that makes sense.

"**No More Sugar, Sugar", where we find out Oliver is diabetic, never aired in the US. Is it canon?**

Depends who you ask, honestly. After all, people outside the US will take it as canon. I don't know why it wasn't aired here, but since it was available for download, I think we should consider it canon.

**When Jackson was "dating" Hannah, why didn't people at school pester him and/or Miley about it? For that matter, why don't they bring it up any more?**

I believe that they did, but this action happened off screen. It wasn't integral to the plot. Likewise for why people don't bring it up – it's been established that Jackson is a friend of Hannah's, after all. I assume all this takes place off screen too.

**In "Fashion Week" one of the models says that she's an 11th level Cleric, yet when playing D&G later she casts Magic Missile, a Wizard spell. How could she do this?**

Assuming D&G is basically the same as D&D, there are two ways she could have achieved this. One is simple: She wasn't _playing_ the Cleric character at the time, they had all started new characters for a campaign. The convoluted answer, which I thought up first, was that she's a Cleric with the Magic domain, and was casting the spell from a wand or scroll, because the Magic domain lets you use those as though you were a wizard (of caster level equal to one-half your levels of Cleric, I believe.)

**Also in "Fashion Week", why did Alex use the wizard copy machine instead of, say, the Pictures from Faces spell?**

My explanation is that the picture from faces spell would only make it a picture of the dress, and it would, as such, be paper, essentially.

**What universe does JONAS fit into? **

Ooh, tough question! You would think that it's not the universe proper because the Jonas brothers exist in that (From the Hannah Montana episode "Mr. Jonas, Mr. Jonas and Mr. Jonas", and in JONAS they're a band called JONAS, but made up of the Lucas brothers. However, my story is this: There are TWO bands of brothers that look exactly like the Jonas brothers – The Jonas Brothers themselves, and the Lucas Brothers in the band JONAS. With everyone already having plenty of doppelgangers, I think that this is actually not unlikely!


End file.
